Stephen Ballinger , Operations Director of the organization said that their work is to reduce the threat of unexploded ordnance in Peleliu and Angaur States.
Ballinger said the group is now on its second phase of clearance which is the location of the ERW and landmines.
He said the first phase was speaking with the community on the threats of the ERW and landmines.
“Part of the project is to make the community aware if its danger,” he said.
He added that the third phase of the clearance will be to destroy it by demolition.
The group at the same time is conducting training to locals to make them self-sufficient in clearing these threats.
He said that although the ERW or landmines are 65 years old, it can still pose a threat to the community.
Casandra McKeown , Finance Director and co- founder Cleared Ground Demining said , “ these things are designed to kill people.”
Ballinger said a projectile bomb can injure any person within the 300 meter radius.
He said though that the organization understands that these ERW’s is part of the tourism attraction of Palau. Part of their work is to remove the dangerous parts and still ensure that its historical value is preserved.
The group he said is taking a pro-active approach, he said although nothing has happened yet, the clearance will reduce the threat.
The group has secured funding for the clearance in Palau, and it is hopeful that it will receive more funding to remove as much as threat possible.
He said the project will run for two months and at no cost to the country. The project started in Sept.
McKeown said Palau is a signatory to the Ottawa Landmines Treaty and the country is leading in the Pacific in ridding its nation of the possible threats of ERW.
“Palau one of the first in the Pacific in following the treaty,” she said.
The group has conducted land mine clearance projects in Southern Lebanon, Jordan, Guinea Bissau, Kosovo, Laos, Libya, Iraq and Eritrea.
